ABOUT 750 contractors at Northam Platinum’s Booysendal mine embarked on an unprotected work stoppage following a dispute over contract termination packages from employer, Murray & Roberts Cementation (MRC), the platinum firm said.
The employees are being transferred to Northam Platinum as permanent employees as part of the firm’s move to become owner-operator at Booysendal – an effort aimed at becoming more efficient and lowering costs over the longer time frame. Northam said today, however, the employees were demanding end-of-contract termination packages from MRC.
“Both MRC and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), the representative union, have been in consultation with the affected employees,” said Northam in an announcement to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). “MRC has applied for an urgent interdict to effect a return to work,” it added.
Commenting on its full-year results in February, Northam CEO, Paul Dunne, said the firm had had “a satisfactory year”. Total refined metal produced for the interim period was 212,173 ounces (424,266 oz annualised), but the target is for as much as one million oz/year in the next three years. In terms of financial performance, normalised headline earnings came in at R189m (2017: R265.5m).
Shareholders will be kept informed of further developments, the company said. Shares in Northam closed 4.3% lower on the JSE.
